Matthew 3.7-12

The last couple of days, we have talked a lot about the political climate behind what was going on with John the Baptist in chapter three. We have talked about the four different political parties: Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and the Zealot, and we have talked about how each of them were trying to be the true people of God in different ways. And yesterday, we talked about what John the Baptist did that was bringing about all the attention he was getting from the religious rulers. We saw that he was wearing the right clothes, eating the right food, was at the right place and was doing the right things. Now we will see that not only his actions were causing a ruckus but also his message. And these six verses have to do specifically with what John's message was. Let's read his message:

⁷ But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
 ¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  


In John's message, there are two actions that stand at odds with each other over and over again. Repentance and Judgment. If you remember, repentance is a change of mindset and heart/behavior. We repent when we decide to stop thinking and acting a certain way and start acting and thinking a different way. It is a U-turn, a 180. Judgment is ultimately what happens to those who do not repent. To be judged, is to be measured, or to have someone decide something about you. All of us will be judged before God, but his decision about us, whether we are guilty for our sins or innocent, all has to do with if we repented from our sins and accepted the sacrifice of his son. 


So in this context, in John's message, we either repent or are judged. Repentance is the positive term, and judgment is the negative term. And with that, we see specifically two illustrations as to who are being judged and what is going to happen to those who are judged, or in this case, condemned. 


First, in verse 7, John saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing people. And even before they can get a word out, John begins to condemn them. He says: 


“You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? ⁸ Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 


And here we have what they were doing wrong, why there are going to be condemned, unless they repent. They weren't producing fruit. This may sound strange to some of you, but if you examine the illustration, it makes a lot of sense. 


Fruit is not the plant, but what the plant produces. Let's say I plant an apple tree. What grows is not the fruit, no first there needs to be some roots that grow, then the tree trunk, then limbs and leaves on the limbs, and then finally, when the tree is ripe, it produces apples. The fruit is the by-product of the plant. The same is true of good deeds in our spiritual lives. We aren't trying to make good deeds right off the bat, that isn't the means to the end of a happy life, working towards good deeds. But if we follow God, and allow him to make us a healthy person, we grow and produce fruit as a by-product of our relationship with God. 


These religious teachers were just doing deeds and were skipping the relationship with God part. They were trying to be the people of God without God. And so they weren't really producing the correct fruit of love and mercy. And this is what John was accusing them of in verse 8. He goes on to show what they were relying on instead of God for the spiritual lives. 


⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 


These Jews were relying on the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. They were thinking, "because my Great great great great great great great great great great grandfather was a man of God, so am I. It's like those people who try to get by on the coattails of their parents or grandparents. And instead of pursuing a true relationship with God, these religious leaders were counting on who their daddy was to determine that they were the people of God. And John says this ain't gonna cut it. And he gives an illustration of why it won't work. Let's keep reading:


¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.


John is saying, even though you are children of Abraham, you aren't producing the right kind of fruit that children of Abraham should produce. And because you aren't producing fruit, you are liable to be cut down and judged, condemned. It doesn't matter who your daddy is, if you aren't producing fruit you will be condemned. This was John's message, and the Jews didn't like it. But his message wasn't over. This is why he was preaching at the Jordan River, he was saying we can start over. Although we have been messing up and not producing fruit, we can change our minds, we can repent and start doing the right thing. And this was the purpose of his baptism. This is what he says next:


¹¹ “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. ¹² His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”  


John compares his baptism with someone who is coming after him. He is saying that I baptize as a symbol for us to stop living our old way of life, a life without producing fruit, and to start living a new life. But there is one coming after me that will baptize with the holy spirit and with fire. John's baptism wasn't complete, it was pointing to another baptism that was to come, Jesus'. And Jesus' baptism did two things, it gave the Holy Spirit to those who repent, and punishment to those who didn't repent. That is what the fire is standing for, the judgment and punishment of the unrepentant. And John ends this somewhat confusing statement of a baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire with an illustration that makes a lot of sense. He begins to talk about farming. 


The threshing floor was a place where you would gather all the wheat and use a big pitch fork, called a winnowing fork to pick up the wheat and throw it up into the air. The threshing floor was an open area so that the wind would blow through and blow off all the unwanted chaff off of the wheat, leaving only the stuff you wanted. The farmer would keep on tossing up the wheat so that all the chaff was off, then he would take the pure wheat with no chaff on it and put it in the barn, and he would burn up all the chaff that was left over. This is what will happen to the repentant and the unrepentant. When Jesus judges the world, those that repent are those that produce fruit, like the wheat. Jesus is going to sift through and divide all the repentant from the unrepentant, and the repentant will be gathered into the barn, which is heaven, to live forever with Jesus. The unrepentant, those that do not produce fruit, will end up like the chaff, separated from the wheat and punished. 


The key is this, those that repent and produce fruit will be gathered up with Jesus and will receive his baptism of the Holy Spirit. Those that do not, will be divided like the chaff and will receive his baptism of fire, which is punishment in hell. 


John's message is quite simple. The Jews can't just rely on who their daddy is to get them into heaven. They must repent and produce fruit by having a relationship with Jesus. If they do they will receive the eternal life, if they don't they will be condemned to hell. 


So my question to you is are you producing fruit? Are you allowing Jesus to transform you so that you look and act and think like him? And if you do that you will produce good fruit, or deeds. Are you allowing Jesus to use you today for his purpose to bless the nations? 


This is what following Jesus means, producing fruit.